Espaço público e sociabilidade em contexto de violência urbana

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of urban violence on social interactions and the use of public spaces by young people living in a medium-sized city in the state of Minas Gerais. For this purpose, questionnaires were applied to a sample of 618 young people. As an analysis method, exploratory data analysis, chi-square and binary multivariate logistic regression were used. According to the results, the spaces most frequented by young people were the church, the cinema and the mall, considered by young people as the safest spaces. The biggest victims of robberies were young people from the region with the highest income, while those from homicides and physical attacks, mainly from the attacks employed by the police, young people from low-income regions and those with greater social vulnerability. Due to violence, more than 50% of young people said they were afraid of going out and modified some behavior for fear of violence. It was concluded that urban violence affects the use of the city by young people, because in the expectation of not being victims of violence, they modify their daily conduct. In addition, it was concluded that having been a victim of violence or having a family member as a victim, constitutes one of the most important elements in determining the change in conduct.